Key Question: How has climate change affected human health?
Preface: My key question is about how climate change would affect human health. This MGP has general information about the climate change and food affected itself and has some specific parts where it discusses about one disease. Many people might be aware of the fact that if anything harms human's health the fastest, it would be the food. This question was important to me since I know people in America whose crops are getting affected by climate change and I wanted them to know about this information and what the consequences might be. Introduction to Genre #1.
As you can see this genre is an essay. This genre number one helped me answer the question by discussing the process of how farmer are getting affected by the climate change, next about how the food that we eat are getting affected.
Imagine a world with no meat. Everyone on Earth is aware of the greenhouse effect and the pollution. Should these persist, humans could potentially deplete the world's source of meat. Our primary concern right now should be for our future degenerating and their ability to survive on his planet and enjoy the simple luxuries we do, such as an omnivorous diet. Many more human lives might also at risk in the near future. Implementing change is always difficult, but people should take preventative action now instead of waiting for harsher consequences. Otherwise, the rising temperature will result in more serious diseases that affect human health. .
Warmer temperature can affect human health both directly and indirectly. Frequent high heat waves can cause higher sensitivity to allergies. Obviously, a change in temperature would affect our comfort levels, but this is the least of our worries. As pollution continues to infect the atmosphere and our natural resources, there will be increasingly more chances of new diseases developing and spreading, since humans and animals are vulnerable to new germs and bacteria.(Hassol) If the temperature keeps rising, the sea level will also rise. This could also create new diseases that affect humans and animals. "Long-term changes in climate and short-term climatic disruptions will continue to alter the distribution and prevalence of infectious diseases."(Ray) These conditions will make new varieties of diseases by affecting marine habitat, which might increase the spread of malaria. "Malaria is caused by parasites, Plasmodium, which is transmitted via the bites of infected mosquitoes."(Who) Higher temperatures and heavier rainfall will encourage insects to carry infectious diseases and spread them around globally.
There was a serious discussion and investigation of mad-cow disease in Korea last summer. The problem was that if people eat infected meat, those people might die within a period of time due to brain damage. Human would get sick by eating the meat of infected cows. This is merely one example of a complication of illness that doctors are not equipped to handle because the incubation period of this disease is more than average 10 years. Many scientists have researched why the cow may carry such a disease. Cows are herbivores, but, cattle farmers were feeding them both plants and meat, which caused horrible and unexpected consequences. When temperatures are normal, farmers earn money by selling their crops. But due to the unpredictable weather, farmers are unable to harvest enough food for their animals. Hence, farmers resorted to changing the diet of their cows. If we look at the problems with animals, we can see the original causing factors, which include a change in climate. If the farming conditions become worse, then there might be a shortage of food not only for humans, but also for animals.(Dowshen)
By experiencing just a few of the serious effect of climate change, people have finally become alert to the harmful effects of global warming. Since climate change brings a very unfortunate situation to all of us, including worsening human health, we should try to preserve the environment to the best of our ability. This includes being more conscious about pollution and how we utilize our natural resources. We must make an extra effort so that the temperature will not rise more than it already has because the effect of warmer temperature have already proven to bring us many tragedies.
-"IPCC - Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change." IPCC - Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. 3 Sep. 2009 <http://www.ipcc.ch/>.
- " UNEP - Climate Change - Home." -- United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) - Home page --. 3 Sep. 2009 <http://www.unep.org/climatechange/>.
- "Climate Change And Disease Ecology." Science Daily: News & Articles in Science, Health, Environment & Technology. 15 Sep. 2009 <http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/08/070811220220.htm>.
-"WHO/Malaria." WHO/Malaria. 15 Sep. 2009 <www.who.int/topics/malaria/en/index.html>.
-FitnessDog. "Mad Cow Disease and Your Dog's Food." HubPages. 23 Sep. 2009 <http://hubpages.com/hub/Mad-Cow-Disease-and-Your-Dogs-Food>.
Introduction to genre #2.
This genre number two is written in a story format of a cow's point of view. This is a section where the genre explains about one specific type of disease that humans might get affected due to climate change.
“Right now is 2008 summer. The news and media are going crazy with the problem mad-cow disease, a horrible disease which doesn’t show the symptoms until after ten years,” I said. I turned around to see my audience listening intently with dazzling eyes. Even though we couldn’t live like human and speak like them, we still understood what was going on. Everyone around me ate the food that our owner gave us and didn’t understand why they lived, but I was different.
I thought I was special! I was the only cow who could understand what the humans said. Others cared only their comfort. They walked around, ate grass, and slept. As I heard the news from my owner’s brownish-box with pictures popping out, called TV, they said that cows were becoming a terrifying food to them. I didn’t understand before. There was one mysterious question, “Why are we getting the disease?”
At first, I was some what happy with the idea that my friends and families weren’t going to be eaten. As time passed, my best friend, George, wasn’t able to walk properly. It was horrible, a disaster!! He tried to survive with best of his abilities, but still died after a month. That was when my view point changed! I wanted us to survive first and then think about being eaten later!
So this was the beginning of my interesting life, being Cow Bonds. I saw from TV that there was a handsome, secrete agent guy named, “James Bond,” so I decided to call myself Mr. Cow Bond! I started to look around and listen to my owner and other farmers talk. I paid increasingly more attention to TV. One time, there was an explanation on the box saying why cows get the disease.
It wasn’t our fault?! It was the humans’ fault! They made something called pollution and made global warming, I heard. Human were the route cases of everything…Due to the change in the climate, people like my owners couldn’t sell what they produced. They wanted to feed us, but had no money. Therefore, they fed us other cows' parts of the bodies that they had not sold. I was startled to the bone. I have been eating my friends and family. This realization made me sick.
That night I spread the words for all the cows to meet at the barn. When all the cows were gathered, I went one side of the barn and caught their attention. I began to speak, “Hello, fellow cows. I told everyone of you to gather here tonight for an important announcement.“ All the cows looked puzzled since they had no idea what I would say. “You guys have been eating your friends and family! Our owner didn’t have enough money, so just fed us ground parts of other cows!” Now all of the cows looked at each other in shock, and started to whisper to each other. “How do you know this?” asked a old female cow. I answered truthfully, “I know and understand the human language. I didn’t tell anyone ‘cause I though it wasn’t important. The reason why I say this now is because I want every cow in this room to refuse to eat the meat given to us by our owner! Please, Please refuse to eat! Thank you for listening.” Now the cows were divided into two sides, the ones that believed me, others who didn’t.
I decided to show them how the process works. The first step was to show them that the crops that our farmers have produced were not very good. I got some of the corn that my owner produced and fed it to everyone. They have said that it tasted awful! I told them that these kinds of crops didn't sell, so our owner hasn’t earned much money. The next step was to show them that they were eating each other. The next day during noon, I took them to one of the barns that our owner didn’t let us inside. There was a hole on the wall of the barn, so I let one cow after another to see what was going on inside.
After all, every cow believed me! One side I was happy to earn their support. I started to ask myself questions, “Now what am I supposed to do?” “Do I need to take action?” There were so many questions in my head unanswered. Next day, I brought all the cows together again and asked them if there were anything that they wanted to do. But everyone was afraid to take any action, so I suggested an idea of having our own farm without having to have our owners feed us each other. This suggestion failed since there would be no one in charge. There was no other choice except for us to just die… We couldn’t do anything else…
About a week passed from last time all the cows met." I think I am sick… I can’t feel my leg very much and can’t walk properly. I guess my time has come to be eaten by others and hurt the humans." I kept saying to myself, “I really don’t want to hurt anyone, but I guess it isn’t my choice.” I prayed to God, “Dear God, almighty, why does it have to be me? Out of all the cows why did u pick me?” One part of my heart started to hate God, but there was nothing I could do. I guessed my job was done. It was actually the correct time for me to leave. Maybe in next life, I might be a human and actually be happier.
Citation:
-"Climate Change And Disease Ecology." Science Daily: News & Articles in Science, Health, Environment & Technology. 15 Sep. 2009 <http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/08/070811220220.htm>.
-FitnessDog. "Mad Cow Disease and Your Dog's Food." HubPages. 23 Sep. 2009 <http://hubpages.com/hub/Mad-Cow-Disease-and-Your-Dogs-Food>.
Introduction for Genre #3.
As you might be able to see this is a poem about how humans had made mistakes on this Earth. This helped answer my question in a part where it shows how climate change can threaten human lives by illness and death.
Lamenting for the Earth
The land…
Which has been my life,
My first steps it has seen
And every tearful smile...
Through the hole in the sky…
The shining rays are blazing…
The land is getting thirsty.
The heavens are cruel.
They forsake this land,
They punish us through this land we treasure.
The memories of nature,
I rather miss the blizzard…
It seems so far away.
Creature of this planet unite,
Think about our ways,
Which are not right.
As we witness our changing land,
No, the abuse is of our land.
Illness and death,
We have brought upon ourselves.
What shall our children suffer,
from the torment of this gift so grand?
As my time runs out,
I fear with patience and humility.
I admit it… We dare to the nature…
It is whipping us…
Remember children that you have the ability.
Take care of this land,
And never doubt,
Should you forsake this lesson,
Heaven's patience will run out.
Epiloge:
Through this project I have learned the root cause of what has been hurting our crops. I also learned the sadness of the farmers and the cows. At first, I only blamed the farmers of doing the bad job but it was actually everyone's fault. Now, I think everyone should be taking the climate change very seriously! I hope that others will also think that climate change is a serious issue and we should be dealing with it as fast as we can.
Human’s MistakeKey Question: How has climate change affected human health?
Preface: My key question is about how climate change would affect human health. This MGP has general information about the climate change and food affected itself and has some specific parts where it discusses about one disease. Many people might be aware of the fact that if anything harms human's health the fastest, it would be the food. This question was important to me since I know people in America whose crops are getting affected by climate change and I wanted them to know about this information and what the consequences might be.
Introduction to Genre #1.
As you can see this genre is an essay. This genre number one helped me answer the question by discussing the process of how farmer are getting affected by the climate change, next about how the food that we eat are getting affected.
Imagine a world with no meat. Everyone on Earth is aware of the greenhouse effect and the pollution. Should these persist, humans could potentially deplete the world's source of meat. Our primary concern right now should be for our future degenerating and their ability to survive on his planet and enjoy the simple luxuries we do, such as an omnivorous diet. Many more human lives might also at risk in the near future. Implementing change is always difficult, but people should take preventative action now instead of waiting for harsher consequences. Otherwise, the rising temperature will result in more serious diseases that affect human health. .
Warmer temperature can affect human health both directly and indirectly. Frequent high heat waves can cause higher sensitivity to allergies. Obviously, a change in temperature would affect our comfort levels, but this is the least of our worries. As pollution continues to infect the atmosphere and our natural resources, there will be increasingly more chances of new diseases developing and spreading, since humans and animals are vulnerable to new germs and bacteria.(Hassol) If the temperature keeps rising, the sea level will also rise. This could also create new diseases that affect humans and animals. "Long-term changes in climate and short-term climatic disruptions will continue to alter the distribution and prevalence of infectious diseases."(Ray) These conditions will make new varieties of diseases by affecting marine habitat, which might increase the spread of malaria. "Malaria is caused by parasites, Plasmodium, which is transmitted via the bites of infected mosquitoes."(Who) Higher temperatures and heavier rainfall will encourage insects to carry infectious diseases and spread them around globally.
There was a serious discussion and investigation of mad-cow disease in Korea last summer. The problem was that if people eat infected meat, those people might die within a period of time due to brain damage. Human would get sick by eating the meat of infected cows. This is merely one example of a complication of illness that doctors are not equipped to handle because the incubation period of this disease is more than average 10 years. Many scientists have researched why the cow may carry such a disease. Cows are herbivores, but, cattle farmers were feeding them both plants and meat, which caused horrible and unexpected consequences. When temperatures are normal, farmers earn money by selling their crops. But due to the unpredictable weather, farmers are unable to harvest enough food for their animals. Hence, farmers resorted to changing the diet of their cows. If we look at the problems with animals, we can see the original causing factors, which include a change in climate. If the farming conditions become worse, then there might be a shortage of food not only for humans, but also for animals.(Dowshen)
By experiencing just a few of the serious effect of climate change, people have finally become alert to the harmful effects of global warming. Since climate change brings a very unfortunate situation to all of us, including worsening human health, we should try to preserve the environment to the best of our ability. This includes being more conscious about pollution and how we utilize our natural resources. We must make an extra effort so that the temperature will not rise more than it already has because the effect of warmer temperature have already proven to bring us many tragedies.
-"IPCC - Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change." IPCC - Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. 3 Sep. 2009 <http://www.ipcc.ch/>.
- " UNEP - Climate Change - Home." -- United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) - Home page --. 3 Sep. 2009 <http://www.unep.org/climatechange/>.
- "Climate Change And Disease Ecology." Science Daily: News & Articles in Science, Health, Environment & Technology. 15 Sep. 2009 <http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/08/070811220220.htm>.
-"WHO/Malaria." WHO/Malaria. 15 Sep. 2009 <www.who.int/topics/malaria/en/index.html>.
-FitnessDog. "Mad Cow Disease and Your Dog's Food." HubPages. 23 Sep. 2009 <http://hubpages.com/hub/Mad-Cow-Disease-and-Your-Dogs-Food>.
Introduction to genre #2.
This genre number two is written in a story format of a cow's point of view. This is a section where the genre explains about one specific type of disease that humans might get affected due to climate change.
“Right now is 2008 summer. The news and media are going crazy with the problem mad-cow disease, a horrible disease which doesn’t show the symptoms until after ten years,” I said. I turned around to see my audience listening intently with dazzling eyes. Even though we couldn’t live like human and speak like them, we still understood what was going on. Everyone around me ate the food that our owner gave us and didn’t understand why they lived, but I was different.
I thought I was special! I was the only cow who could understand what the humans said. Others cared only their comfort. They walked around, ate grass, and slept. As I heard the news from my owner’s brownish-box with pictures popping out, called TV, they said that cows were becoming a terrifying food to them. I didn’t understand before. There was one mysterious question, “Why are we getting the disease?”
At first, I was some what happy with the idea that my friends and families weren’t going to be eaten. As time passed, my best friend, George, wasn’t able to walk properly. It was horrible, a disaster!! He tried to survive with best of his abilities, but still died after a month. That was when my view point changed! I wanted us to survive first and then think about being eaten later!
So this was the beginning of my interesting life, being Cow Bonds. I saw from TV that there was a handsome, secrete agent guy named, “James Bond,” so I decided to call myself Mr. Cow Bond! I started to look around and listen to my owner and other farmers talk. I paid increasingly more attention to TV. One time, there was an explanation on the box saying why cows get the disease.
It wasn’t our fault?! It was the humans’ fault! They made something called pollution and made global warming, I heard. Human were the route cases of everything…Due to the change in the climate, people like my owners couldn’t sell what they produced. They wanted to feed us, but had no money. Therefore, they fed us other cows' parts of the bodies that they had not sold. I was startled to the bone. I have been eating my friends and family. This realization made me sick.
That night I spread the words for all the cows to meet at the barn. When all the cows were gathered, I went one side of the barn and caught their attention. I began to speak, “Hello, fellow cows. I told everyone of you to gather here tonight for an important announcement.“ All the cows looked puzzled since they had no idea what I would say. “You guys have been eating your friends and family! Our owner didn’t have enough money, so just fed us ground parts of other cows!” Now all of the cows looked at each other in shock, and started to whisper to each other. “How do you know this?” asked a old female cow. I answered truthfully, “I know and understand the human language. I didn’t tell anyone ‘cause I though it wasn’t important. The reason why I say this now is because I want every cow in this room to refuse to eat the meat given to us by our owner! Please, Please refuse to eat! Thank you for listening.” Now the cows were divided into two sides, the ones that believed me, others who didn’t.
I decided to show them how the process works. The first step was to show them that the crops that our farmers have produced were not very good. I got some of the corn that my owner produced and fed it to everyone. They have said that it tasted awful! I told them that these kinds of crops didn't sell, so our owner hasn’t earned much money. The next step was to show them that they were eating each other. The next day during noon, I took them to one of the barns that our owner didn’t let us inside. There was a hole on the wall of the barn, so I let one cow after another to see what was going on inside.
After all, every cow believed me! One side I was happy to earn their support. I started to ask myself questions, “Now what am I supposed to do?” “Do I need to take action?” There were so many questions in my head unanswered. Next day, I brought all the cows together again and asked them if there were anything that they wanted to do. But everyone was afraid to take any action, so I suggested an idea of having our own farm without having to have our owners feed us each other. This suggestion failed since there would be no one in charge. There was no other choice except for us to just die… We couldn’t do anything else…
About a week passed from last time all the cows met." I think I am sick… I can’t feel my leg very much and can’t walk properly. I guess my time has come to be eaten by others and hurt the humans." I kept saying to myself, “I really don’t want to hurt anyone, but I guess it isn’t my choice.” I prayed to God, “Dear God, almighty, why does it have to be me? Out of all the cows why did u pick me?” One part of my heart started to hate God, but there was nothing I could do. I guessed my job was done. It was actually the correct time for me to leave. Maybe in next life, I might be a human and actually be happier.
Citation:
-"Climate Change And Disease Ecology." Science Daily: News & Articles in Science, Health, Environment & Technology. 15 Sep. 2009 <http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/08/070811220220.htm>.
-FitnessDog. "Mad Cow Disease and Your Dog's Food." HubPages. 23 Sep. 2009 <http://hubpages.com/hub/Mad-Cow-Disease-and-Your-Dogs-Food>.
Introduction for Genre #3.
As you might be able to see this is a poem about how humans had made mistakes on this Earth. This helped answer my question in a part where it shows how climate change can threaten human lives by illness and death.
Lamenting for the Earth
The land…
Which has been my life,
My first steps it has seen
And every tearful smile...
Through the hole in the sky…
The shining rays are blazing…
The land is getting thirsty.
The heavens are cruel.
They forsake this land,
They punish us through this land we treasure.
The memories of nature,
I rather miss the blizzard…
It seems so far away.
Creature of this planet unite,
Think about our ways,
Which are not right.
As we witness our changing land,
No, the abuse is of our land.
Illness and death,
We have brought upon ourselves.
What shall our children suffer,
from the torment of this gift so grand?
As my time runs out,
I fear with patience and humility.
I admit it… We dare to the nature…
It is whipping us…
Remember children that you have the ability.
Take care of this land,
And never doubt,
Should you forsake this lesson,
Heaven's patience will run out.
Site source:
-"Effects of Climate Change Today." Windows to the Universe. 17 Oct. 2009 <http://www.windows.ucar.edu/tour/link=/earth/climate/cli_effects.html>.
-"Climate Change And Disease Ecology." Science Daily: News & Articles in Science, Health, Environment & Technology. 15 Sep. 2009 <http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/08/070811220220.htm>.
-FitnessDog. "Mad Cow Disease and Your Dog's Food." HubPages. 23 Sep. 2009 <http://hubpages.com/hub/Mad-Cow-Disease-and-Your-Dogs-Food>.
Epiloge:
Through this project I have learned the root cause of what has been hurting our crops. I also learned the sadness of the farmers and the cows. At first, I only blamed the farmers of doing the bad job but it was actually everyone's fault. Now, I think everyone should be taking the climate change very seriously! I hope that others will also think that climate change is a serious issue and we should be dealing with it as fast as we can.